Quality optics make hunting easier

               

Paul Kerby of Mancelona with a big coyote. Notice his big scope.

My vision, at best, is only fair in my right eye. I'm blind in the left eye, but when snow covers the tag alders, and a deer stands motionless back in this type of thick cover, they are very difficult to see.

There's no doubt in my mind that some deer sneak past me without being seen. I cherish what little vision I still have, and those deer that I do see.

Quality optics means everything to active deer hunter like me. The difference between good and bad optics is like the difference between a good apple and one filled with worms.

Even people with wonderful vision should use quality optics for hunting.

I've always believed in fine optics, and also believe that you get exactly what you pay for. I have a pair of Swarovski binoculars, and I'd rather leave home without my bow release than without my binoculars. I know that I can still shoot with my fingers and make a killing shot, but I don't have the same confidence in my vision without using quality glass.

A friend of mine returned to Michigan many years ago from a deer hunt in southern Alabama. He and his wife were hunting with some Louisiana Cajun shrimpers from the Mississippi River delta area, and they all carried big, heavy binoculars and big heavy high-powered scopes.

"What's up with the big binoculars," he asked one of the Gulf Coast shrimpers. He was quickly given a demonstation of the difference between his binoculars and theirs.

"Our binoculars give us another 15 minutes of quality hunting time once your binoculars no longer work," he said, once shooting time had ended. "Look yonder. Can you see that buck standing 10 yards inside the cover by that lightning-blasted pine stump?"

My buddy couldn't see the animal with his optics. The Cajun offered his Swarovski binoculars, and he quickly spotted the buck. That short demonstration offered him more light-gathering qualities, greater magnification and a much greater ability to see deeper into the brush.

We use Swarovski binoculars and rifle scopes.

Alabama is wrapped up in deer, but once they get into thick cover along the edge of the green fields, they are nearly invisible without great optics. People who hunt down in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, spend the extra money needed to buy quality binoculars and scopes.

My ability to see deer enables me to better plan on how to hunt them. In some cases, it means allowing the bucks to come to me; in other situations, it may allow the hunter to make tactical changes in how he tries to hunt that animal.

It goes without saying that seeing deer before they see you is of paramount importance, wherever you hunt. My wife and I each own Swarovski binoculars and scopes, and they've improved our hunting in Michigan and everywhere else we've hunted. Quality optics can help make that happen. For instance, the other day I saw some snow appear to fall off a tag alder in a dense thicket.

There was no wind that day, and I wondered why that happened. I studied the area from my stand, and it took several minutes but then the beam of one antler came into sharp focus. I kept studying the area, and the buck was bedded down inside the alders where he though he was invisible.

Good optics are expensive, but with care, they will last a lifetime.

He wasn't, and he came my way and offered an easy shot. I didn't shoot because I was waiting for a bigger buck. He didn't show up, and I proved to myself again why I shelled out a big chunk of hard-earned money for top-of-the-line gear.

Quality binoculars and scopes are important. Without them, you can have a $5,000 firearm that won't do squat for you because you don't have the optics needed that would allow you to see game.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors